


Hellebore

by tea_for_lupin



Series: The Herball [2]
Category: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Genre: First Meeting, Foxes, Gen, Hellebore, Invisibility, Poison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-13
Updated: 2013-10-13
Packaged: 2017-12-29 06:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1001969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tea_for_lupin/pseuds/tea_for_lupin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The slender stem, the nodding head, coy down-gazing under the cowl of petals, purple-flecked. There's poison there. </p>
<p>The Black Rider meets Will.</p>
<p>For wiggleofjudas and aderyn; because. A bit self-indulgent of me (I trust not rudely so), to gift you something from a fandom you might not be in; but I think you may like it anyway (and see the notes, at the end).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hellebore

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts), [aderyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aderyn/gifts).



The Rider is hooded as hellebore; the eye slips from him, too easily. He passes unseen. His own eyes are blue, should he wish it: disemboweling, purgative. Let that gaze enter; it will stop your heart. 

The slender stem, the nodding head, coy down-gazing under the cowl of petals, purple-flecked. There's poison there. It reddens the skin, like desire.

His hair is the colour of foxes, thick. 

He offers the bread. It is not taken. He bites into it as into the neck of a living thing. And the smith pulls the boy away from the snatching hand: foolish, foolish.

He rides away. The horse's tail streams behind like long black roots.

**Author's Note:**

> For those not familiar with The Rider, have a [ handy character summary ](http://www.rhymer.org.uk/dark/darkguide.html#Characters%20%5B%5BAgents%20of%20the%20Dark%5D%5D%20Rider%20%5B%5BAbout%20this%20guide%5D%5D)
> 
> 'Magickally, Hellebore ... is used in order to render oneself less visible to others ... [it confers] the ability to pass through a crowd undetected.' - Paul Beyerl, _The Master Book of Herbalism_
> 
> [Mrs Grieve on hellebore](http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/h/helbla14.html): the herb is violently irritant, drastically narcotic, cardiac, purgative.


End file.
